Over the last few months, several people have asked whether there was some useful way of using the Government's new epetition platform to help stop cuts to public services.

Caroline Lucas' Tax and Financial Transparency Bill is made up of two simple measures which could help to raise billions of pounds to offset the cuts. The Bill is scheduled for a second reading on 25th November, but it is not guaranteed time for debate. A large number of signatures on the associated petition will help put pressure on MPs to find time on the day. In addition, if the petition gets 100,000 signatures, the Backbench Business Committee will be obliged to consider it for debate (it was this process that resulted in the Hillsborough debate last night).

Caroline acknowledged during the trial of the Brighton Uncut superglue 9, where she acted as an expert witness for the defence, that "there does come a point in many campaigns where you have to go beyond signing petitions". UK Uncut remains firmly focused on direct action and civil disobedience (and unattached to any political party), but if you can, take a minute to sign the petition as a step towards making corporations pay their fair share: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/18996

The petition:

TAX JUSTICE

Responsible department: Her Majesty's Treasury

We applaud campaigns by trade unions, church groups, and civil society demanding tax justice and join them in calling on the Government to take action to identify those avoiding and evading tax. Firstly, the Chancellor should force all multinational companies filing accounts in the UK to reveal their use of tax havens and publish what profits they earn and what tax they pay in each country in which they operate, without exception. Secondly, banks should be required by law to give details of all accounts they maintain for companies operating in the UK so HMRC and Companies House can chase any companies who pretend to be dormant to evade tax. These two simple changes could help recover billions of pounds of lost tax for the UK by revealing those hiding their income from view.